Justice Carmody is retiring from his position as Family Court Judge on 9 July and will return to the bar.

Ethical restraints will, no doubt, see him not practicing in Family Law.

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One Response to “Retirement of Family Court Judge”

Should those ethical restraints exist, and no doubt they do, then they will conflict with rule 89 of the 2007 Barristers Rule (Qld) which states that a barrister must accept a brief within the barrister’s field of knowledge (the “cab-rank” rule).

In my opinion, this highlights another problem with the strictures and “closed-shop-ness” of the Queensland Bar. Unlike every other state of Australia, Queensland Barristers cannot be employed (rule 89). I have just written to the Queensland Attorney-General asking that rule 89 be repealed. My request was denied on the basis that the recent so-called “wholesale” review into the legal profession did not necessitate further changes.

As a profession, unless we are willing to constantly review our ethical positions and the way we do business, we will face a further “wholesale” review some time into the future when public sentiment dictates it. One wonders how many trust account defalcations or incidents of overcharging on “Today Tonight” will it take this time?

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